Like A Mother
by Tiana-P
Summary: What would you do if someone who was like a mother to you came back? But the reason why they had left in the first place was unforgivable? And how can Shalimar keep her feral side in check when all she wants to do is have her family back? BS, JE, AOC
1. Chapter 1

**Heya! Yeah, I know I've been gone for a while – I've explained why on my author page – BUT I'M SOOOOORRRRY!**

**Here's my new story – it's my first MX one cos my cousins just got me hooked on this (again, look at my author page!)**

**Please R&R!**

**PS: Italics – thoughts, Underline – emphasis, **

**Enjoy!**

**xXx Tiana**

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'That's so not fair!' Jesse exclaimed.

'Why did you two get to pick? Again!' Brennan joined in. The four of them were in the rec. room for their night off as Adam had gone out to meet someone. As the girls had got there first, they had chosen the movie to watch. Shalimar didn't really care what they watched, but Emma was only into chick-flicks and only the action ones if it had fit guys in it. She had chosen tonight's movie: 'Save the Last Dance'.

'Because you's were too slow to get your asses here!' Emma smiled back as the boys joined them.

'But we've seen this, like, a hundred times!' Jesse fought back. He was seated in the single couch and was waiting to be joined by Emma as she walked over to him with the remote in her hands to start the DVD. But she still stood near the TV.

'Jesse's right! I practically know every single line in this movie! I could sat them in my sleep!' Brennan continued to back him up.

After looking at each other, speaking by a special bond shared by only two girls as close as Emma and Shalimar, they smirked and sighed simultaneously, shaking their heads.

'Fine! You know, no-one's actually making you watch the movie.' Shalimar commented. She was standing more or less next to Emma. Brennan looked at Shalimar from his place on the couch which they would normally sit on when watching a movie or doing anything in the rec. room, and then at Jesse, both who had the same idea.

'Let's go!' Jesse said, getting up from his seat, Brennan right behind him. Emma had taken Jesse's places, but instead sitting on the armrest, and Shalimar sat on the couch, right in the middle.

Almost out of the room, the two boys paused in their tracks when the girls started to talk, not taking their eyes off of the DVD, now playing.

'Ok. But if you go, don't expect to come back here. You go, you go.' Emma said, out of the blue. The boys stood perplexed, and looked at Shalimar for more information.

'Go play, if you want. But then go bed, or whatever.' She explained. She hadn't taken her eyes off of the TV yet. Emma could sense the confusion radiating from the guys and Shalimar could too. They couldn't help but smirk, but they kept it hidden in case they saw.

Still not having made a choice, Emma prompted them. They had been looking from one another and wondering whether they were for real or what.

'What's it gonna be?'

'B-ball... Or us?' Shalimar completed. The girls finally looked at them. Obviously, they knew that they would choose them, but making them think like this was fun.

The boys looked at each other one final, and then sighed. They knew better then to mess with them. Hitting the lights, they went back to their seats.

Emma slid off of the armrest and onto Jesse's lap. With one arm around his neck and the other grasping his, she sunk into him. Smiling, she whispered.

'I knew you'd choose me.'

'Only cos I love ya.' Jesse replied, smiling and enjoying the feel of Emma against him, all relaxed and work-free.

Brennan went over to the couch, jumping over the back to get on it. Sitting net to Shalimar, he put an arm around her shoulder and leaned in closer, so he could whisper in her ear.

'So you gonna make it worth my while?' he finished by biting earlobe. He saw her smile and then she turned to face him. Leaning in close, their foreheads almost touching, Shalimar spoke.

'Well…' she trailed off. Biting her bottom lip in a faux pensive mood, she smirked. Suddenly, she raised his hands onto his chest and pushed him onto the couch so that he was lying down. 'Nope.' She giggled.

Surprised, Brennan narrowed his eyes at her as she pouted to him. Quickly, before she could react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her on top of him. Once again, only inches away from each other, Brennan decided to play her game. Lifting his head to speak to her again, he said,

'I think we should watch the movie, don't you?'

Shalimar smacked him on the chest and then turned to see Jesse and Emma watching the movie so inattentively. She looked back down at Brennan, who hadn't taken an eye off of her.

'You're a tease, you know that?' she said, laying her head down onto his chest and wrapping her arms around him as he did the same.

'I learnt from the best.' Brennan whispered back a moment later. Shalimar smirked, and then hit him again.

'What was that for?' he demanded as the sensation rose through his arm this time. Shalimar shrugged.

'Just. I felt like it.'

'Tease.' Brennan shook his head, murmuring. Shalimar just giggled.

The four of them sat, and lay, in the rec. room, sub-consciously watching the DVD, mostly enjoying each other's company, even if it was in silence.

As the film finished, the guys realised that their girls had fallen asleep. Brennan continued to play with Shalimar's hair as she slept.

'How long do you think they've been out?' Jesse asked.

'A long time. I think we could have stopped the DVD half way through and they wouldn't have noticed.' Brennan replied careful not to wake Shalimar. Jesse noticed how he hadn't taken his eyes off of her yet.

_Man, he so sucked in, _he thought. A smile came upon his face as he felt Emma shift in his arms.

'C'mon Sleeping Beauty, let's get you to bed.' Jesse whispered to her. He lifted her up in his arms and took her to her room.

As Jesse left with Emma, Brennan just laid there with Shalimar in his arms. He kept on playing with her hair, and he loved the way she felt. Looking at her, she seemed so innocent. _If only she was,_ he thought, chuckling slightly. Shalimar snuggled closer to him that he had to tighten his arms around her. Finally, after God knows how long, he too fell asleep, in the best position he could ever want.

Few hours later 

Adam returned from his meeting with an 'old friend' at about 2am. Feeling sort of like a teenager, creeping into the house after his curfew, he made his way to his room as quietly and gently as possible. He knew that any loud noise would cause his team, his children as he thought of them to be, to wake up, and probably be ready to attack. The thought of it brought a small smile to Adam's face.

Shalimar woke up when her senses told her another person that was in her home. It didn't take long to work out that it was Adam, so Shalimar let out a small smile and relaxed again.

Finally, after a moment or so, Shalimar realised that she wasn't in a bed. Turning slightly, so she could see everything around her, she let her eyes go feral so she could see better, and checked out where she was. _Rec. room _she recognised immediately.

Still propped up on one hand, she turned to see whom she was sleeping on. Cocking her head to one side, she smiled as she saw Brennan, still asleep, one arm almost around her, the other above his head. _He looks too cute _she thought, changing her eyes back to brown again.

Gently lowering herself down, Shalimar rested her chin on his chest and stared at him for a while. She was so caught up that in her own thoughts, mainly about him, that she was startled when he spoke to her suddenly.

'Will you quit staring?' he murmured, not even bothering to open his eyes. Shalimar was shocked. She propped herself up again and looked at him with narrow eyes. Her natural eyesight was now adjusting to the dark now, and she could see Brennan much more clearly now.

'How d'you know I was staring at you?' she asked. Brennan finally opened his eyes and stared straight into the thin brown ones almost above him. Smirking slightly, he sighed at the beautiful sight.

'Cos you always do.' He teased her. It was true, but this was that first time that he had seen it with his own eyes. Before, he always just assumed.

'No, I don't.' Shalimar replied.

'Yeah, you do.' Brennan laughed back.

'No, I don't.' Shalimar started to pull away from him, trying her best to convince him.

'Yes, you do.' With the final word, he pulled her down on top of him again. Just as he was going to catch her lips, she pulled back a bit. Just a bit, but enough so he couldn't kiss her. She still stared down at him.

'Say it.' She whispered to him after a moment. Brennan knew exactly what she meant, but he didn't want to give in that easily. Instead, he continued to stare at her, and moved his hands up and down her back and one of her legs.

Although inside, Shalimar was dying just being so close to him to now kiss him, and the way he was stroking her made it worse. But she wouldn't back down, because she knew that Brennan would in any second. She quirked an eyebrow at him to prompt him quicker.

'Fine.' He sighed.

'Fine… what?' Shalimar asked innocently, putting on a childish yet gorgeous smile.

'Fine. You're…' Brennan hesitated and then changed the way he was going to say what she wanted to hear. 'You don't do it.'

'Do what?' Shalimar asked innocently once again, as Brennan leant in for a kiss. She smirked as she saw him back away after her words, and then narrow his eyes at her this time.

'Oh, no you don't!' he exclaimed before capturing her in a passionate kiss that she had been keeping from him for a while now. The kiss deepened and quickened until the both of them had to stop to breathe. Resting their foreheads together, they caught their breath.

'Hey, Shal?' Brennan said finally.

'Yeah Bren?' she replied. Shalimar still had her eyes closed, but Brennan obviously hadn't.

'Um… where the hell are we?' Shalimar giggled, shaking her head.

'What? Can't you tell?' she asked sweetly.

'Nope. You see, I'm not a feral, so can't see in the dark.'

'It doesn't take a feral to see that we're in the rec. room, still, genius!' Shalimar started to move off of Brennan and the couch.

'Where you going?' Brennan complained, instantly missing the heat and the feel of her body. Shalimar turned to look at him.

'Well, I don't know about you, Bren, but I sleep pretty good in my own bed at night, you know?' with that she started to walk off to the bedrooms.

Brennan shook his head and slowly got up too. Catching up with her almost immediately, he wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered to her.

'You don't sleep to bad in my bed either, you know?' with that, he chipped it to his room as Shalimar gasped and went after him. When she got to his room, she could hear that he was already in the shower. _At 2.30 in the morning? _She thought. About to go lie down on his bed, Shalimar took a second thought and thought it to be better if she just left him. So instead, she head out of the room, smirking, and back to hers to sleep for the night.

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**So that' the first chapter...**

**What did you think?**

**Please R&R!**

**I'll update ASAP - probs tomorw - if i get enough reviews that is! lol**

**xXx Tiana**


	2. Chapter 2

**HEYA!**

**So i'm sorry that i didn't update yesterday - but here's longer chappie for you!**

**Please R&R!**

**xXx Tiana****

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**

**Next day**

It was 11am the next morning when the four of them were sat in the kitchen having breakfast. They had all slept in, as use tradition after a night off, except for Brennan. This was the time he normally would wake up anyway.

They had all ate and cleared up, sitting around the kitchen in various places, when Adam finally joined them. All the talking stopped and four pairs of eyes turned to him, all 'angry'.

'Well, well, well. And where have you been?' Jesse started off. He said it in a good impression of a pissed off parent, but it didn't come out the right way, as he was struggling to keep a smile off of him face.

'Bed.' Adam simply replied back. The others looked at each other as he went to fix himself a coffee. None of them knew of Adam getting up after them. Only Shalimar knew what time he had truly came home last night. So she decided to spill, as no one else knew what to say.

'And what exactly were you doing out until 2am this morning, mister?' she scolded. Adam turned to look at her. Shalimar wore a smug look, mixed with anticipation and the urge to laugh at the shock look on his face.

'Two am! Ooh… who was she?' Emma excitedly asked. Adam turned to look at her now.

'She was an old friend. We just caught up. That's all.' He emphasized for Emma's over imagination.

'Sure. Until two in the morning? I totally believe you!' she replied with sceptism in her voice. The other three laughed at her response but shut up when Adam threw them a stern look.

'Ok. Believe what you want. I've got to go do some research and then I'm heading out again. You guys are training today, got it?' he added quickly as he saw the girls' eyes light up as the thought of him going to meet 'her' again. But instead, they moaned.

'What? No fair!' Shalimar groaned.

'Yeah! We were gonna go shopping1' Emma joined in.

'Sorry girls. But you need to train. Can't have Mutant X fail now, can we?' Adam explained. Both girls looked at him with puppy-dog eyes and pouts. Adam tried with all his might to resist, but he really couldn't. 'Fine. Train now. Then you can go when I get back.' Both girls now smiled as Adam walked out of the kitchen, heading to his lab.

'You girls better pray that he doesn't get home as late as yesterday. Otherwise, you won't be shopping at all.' Brennan pointed out. The girls' happiness deflated for a while.

'Oh well. If not, we'll just go on one of our own special shopping tips, right Shal?' Emma asked, turning her head to face her; the boys were both oblivious to what they meant.

'Oh yeah. My favourite kind,' she said, heading out of the door with Emma, 'shopping for guy.' She finished off when they were far out of the kitchen, but still within ear shot for the guys to hear.

Jesse and Brennan looked at each other and then both simultaneously rolled their eyes. They knew they had nothing to worry about – if the girls were going clubbing, then the guys were too.

'Wanna go play Bball?' Jesse asked.

'Do you even have to ask?' Brennan replied, getting up and heading towards the basketball court, passing the girls meditating in the dojo on the way.

Few hours later 

It was 3pm when Adam finally left the Sanctuary, trashing all of the girls' plans of going to the mall to shop. By the time he got back, it was bound to be too late.

Jesse was sitting at 'his' computer, as they called it, seeing as he spent most of his time there. He hadn't meant to come across anything, but as he has, he was shocked with what he read.

Reading and making sure what he thought was true, Jesse didn't notice Emma come up behind him.

'Pur-lease!' she exclaimed, looking at the picture of the woman on his screen over his shoulder. ' I am much better that her!' The woman on the screen was actually quite beautiful. If it weren't for the fact that she seemed old enough to be their mother, Emma would have been jealous that he was looking at her.

Jesse had immediately gotten rid of all of the information considering her and turned to face Emma. The look on her face was playful, so he knew that he had nothing to worry about, but there was still something biting his insides away.

'What is it?' Emma asked, feeling the nervousness and dread inside of him. It wasn't usually there. And now she was worried about the woman that she had just seen.

Jesse contemplated what to do. If he kept it a secret, she would start to double guess him. But if he did tell her, then he didn't know what he would get himself into. That was if he was right. If he weren't right, then it would be a hell of an embarrassment for him. Adam would probably never trust him again.

Emma was staring at him, plain anxiety and annoyance on her face. Jesse knew what to do.

'Where are Brennan and Shal?' he had to make sure.

'Sparring. Why?' Emma was trying to keep her patience in check.

'Good. I don't want them to know, especially Shalimar. Not yet, not till I'm sure.' He explained.

'About what?' Emma asked in an annoyed tone. Jesse looked up at her, sighed and pulled up the lady he was reading about's picture.

'This is Tori Reed. She's the lady that Adam went to meet yesterday, and is with right now.'

'Ok. She's quite pretty. Adam said she was an old friend.' Emma looked away from the screen and at Jesse again. 'What's with her then?'

'She's no good.' Jesse simply said.

'What?' Emma laughed, but stopped when she saw Jesse shaking his head. 'C'mon Jesse. If Adam's with her then she must be fine. Why would you say that anyway?'

'Cos we've met her before. It was a year or so before you and Bren joined us. She had worked with Adam after he gave up on Genomax and set up Mutant X. She kinda helped him set this place up-'

'Well, if Adam trusted her then why not? Why are you so worried about it Jesse?' Emma broke in.

'Just let me finish 'k Emma?' Emma nodded. 'Good. Well, she helped set this place up. Adam and her were in love. Ridiculously. Yeah, I know, kinda a weird memory.' Jesse added when he saw Emma's eyes widen in amazement.

'I wish I was there.' She whispered. Jesse merely smiled before carrying on.

'Yeah. So it was the four of us for a while. It was nice, you know. Shal and I never had a proper family where we could be who we were. So it was different. But then some wired things started to happen. We had a couple of intruders, who, thanks to Shal, didn't get anything nor that far. And each time we went out on a case, there would always be GSAs around, along with other people. Thos was when the GSA was new and Eckhart had just came up with them.' Jesse took a break, deciding where to go with it. He hadn't thought about it for a long time now.

'Then what happened Jess?' Emma asked, totally into the story. She was sting cross-legged next to him now.

'Well, one day, we went out on a case. It was a false call, but there was a new mutant there. She was about 19, 20. And she was so scared. We took her to a safe house, underground and it was a couple of days before she started to talk. She described who one of them was. The leader, she thought they were. She said that the lady had dark long hair with blue eyes. She had a Canadian accent. But the weird thing was that she wasn't a mutant herself. Shal and I couldn't believe it. We convinced ourselves that it couldn't be her, I mean there were a lot of Canadians out there. But really, we just didn't want to admit that out family wasn't that perfect as we wanted it to be.' He sighed, hoping Emma got the message.

'You mean… Tori?' Emma was astounded. Jesse just nodded.

'So for a week we never mentioned it. When Adam asked, we said that she hadn't talked yet. The one night, while Shal was on her nocturnal prowl, she passed the empty room, yours now. She didn't have to strain, her feral senses helped her hear everything.' Jesse took a breath. 'She was talking to Eckhart. They were sharing plans. So Shalimar confronted her, there and then. Adam and I woke up to Tori's scream.' Jesse had his eyes closed now, like it was nightmare that he was reliving. _It was real_ he told himself. Emma reached out a hand to cover his.

'We saw Shal attacking her. It took both Adam and me to pry her off. The computer was off. Adam tended to Tori while I talked to Shal. She told me that they were taking and sharing plans. I believed her, but Adam never did. Or he did, but didn't show it. Either way, he came up with excuses that got Tori out of it. It went on for a week. Shal and Adam not on good terms is not a pretty sight. Then one day, we all went on a case, but came back without Tori. She had disappeared, left her ring and all. Adam thought she had been kidnapped. When we got back, there was am email for him, saying that she was 'sorry'. Before we knew it, out system was hacked into. It took us 5 minutes to get them out and change the passwords. Luckily, they didn't get anything, especially the location of the Sanctuary. Adam didn't give up on her for about a year, when they met again and he saw with his own eyes that she had turned. That was it. We never saw her again. Honestly, I thought she was dead.' He chuckled wryly.

'Oh my God, Jesse.' Emma was still processing the information. 'But how do you know it's her he's meeting? If she's like that, then even Adam wouldn't risk it. Not on his own.'

'That's what I thought. I was doing a check on the system, see who's been added, any new info, and Tori's profile popped up. It's quite weird cos she's not a new mutant. So I thought that Adam might have just checked up on it. But then I found these.' Jesse pulled up some emails. The oldest was dated to a year back.

'But why has he been in contact with her for so long?'

'I dunno. I made a timeline. It's rough, but it's about 18 months after she left. A couple of months after you guys joined us. I can't get into any of them; they're all password protected. Except this one. Adam opened it and received it today.' Jesse opened it and Emma read the contents.

"Last night was great. I hope I convinced you. 4pm today? Same place. We won't stay that long this time. x T x"

'Convinced him that she's not so bad after all?' Emma guessed.

'I'm assuming so. But it's still too risky.'

'I don't understand why he didn't tell us.' Emma started to pace.

'I don't think it's cos he doesn't trust us.' Jesse guessed what she meant. 'After Tori went, Shal kinda blamed herself. We figured out that she was giving the GSA and Eckhart out passwords and cases so that they could find us. Shal told me that she had heard her creeping around at night for a couple of weeks, but she never took any notice of it.'

'Oh, poor Shal! She blamed herself for it. Knowing her, it probably took time before she got over it. Poor Shal.' She repeated, shaking her head.

'I don't think she forgave herself till you guys came. Maybe not even then. She's a feral. It's in her nature to protect her family. I guess she felt like she let us down. That's why I don't wanna let her know. We have to act normal. Or close to it.' He added with a smirk. Emma smiled back.

'So what do we do?'

'I dunno. I really dunno.' Jesse said as Emma sat back down on his lap and rested his head on his shoulder.

'Do we let Adam know?' she asked. Jesse sighed.

'I guess we'll have to. I wanna get to the bottom of this, but I don't want to do it that wrong way.'

'Hmmm. Yeah, I understand. It's up to you what we do. Whenever, I'll be there, ok?' she turned to face him and Jesse responded in a kiss. They finally broke apart when they needed air.

'What do you wanna do till then?' Jesse asked her. She thought about it for a while.

'Let's go and get the others. There's nothing we can do till Adam comes back.' Emma reasoned. She then stood up and took Jesse by the hand to go to the dojo where Shalimar and Brennan were probably still training… or 'training'.

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**SO?**

**Well that was my second chappie obviously!**

**I only got 2 reviews last time... pelase more this time!**

**lol neways i just need to kknow that you like it so i can keep going... or to change it if you don't!**

**xXx Tiana**


	3. Chapter 3

**HEY! SORRY for the late updae... but i HOPE it was worth it!**

**Please R&R!**

**Anyways - just a warning - this is mainly B/S stuff...**

**lol Enjoy**

**xXx Tiana**

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**Later that night**

Adam arrived home at about 8pm. The girls were trying to act angry with him, mainly so he would allow them to go clubbing. In the end, he succumbed to their 'you planned this' and 'you get to have fun' and 'IT'S NOT FAIR's and said that they could if they continued to train until they left. For the girls, this meant half an hour of training, then and hour to get ready before getting out of there at 10pm.

Jesse and Emma never got the chance to ask Adam about the meeting. He seemed happy, and when Emma allowed herself to check his deeper feelings without intruding too much, she found that he was over the moon happy and probably in love again. She didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

The club was packed, as was expected. The four of them managed to get a table, mainly because they go there too often.

The girls stayed seated as the other two went to get some drinks.

On the way there, and almost since Adam had gotten back home, Shalimar had realised that Emma was forever in a weird mood. Something's on her mind, Shalimar thought. Leaning in closer so she could talk to her, Shalimar wasn't all that surprised that Emma was off in her own little world.

'He-llo? Emma?' Shalimar asked, waving a hand in front of her face. Emma was shocked and snapped out of her dream world and looked over at Shalimar, who was sitting with an elbow on the table, chin resting on it's palm. She had a worried look on her face.

'Huh?' Emma replied, coolly as possible.

'What's going on, Em?' Shalimar asked straight out as was her nature. Emma's eyes widened for a second, but it was long enough for Shalimar to notice. She looked at her hands, her com-link ring and then back at Shalimar, who still had a worried look on her face.

'Nothing, Shal.' She said gently.

'It took you two minutes to tell me that nothing's going on? I saw the look on your face, Emma. You can tell me, you know.' Shalimar replied, just as gently, adding a half smile at the end.

'I know.' Emma smiled back. She didn't have to hesitate this time. 'I know, but not right now, ok?' she almost whispered. Emma looked out to the bar, and Shalimar followed her gaze to see the guys were coming over. Glancing back at Emma, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Jesse, she sighed and then smiled as the guys joined them.

'What's going on?' Brennan asked, looking from Emma, sitting right opposite to him, to Shalimar, who was naturally next to him.

'Nothing.' Emma said a bit too quickly. She took a sip of her drink. Brennan looked at Shalimar, not at all convinced by Emma. She just shook her head a bit. Brennan let it go.

After talking for a while, the girls couldn't wait any longer, and, as if on cue, Emma's favourite song came on. The two of them headed out onto the dance floor.

The two of them danced for a couple of hours, only stopping to head back to their drinks. The guys had joined them for an hour in between, but then headed over to the bar.

Approached by guy after guy after guy, Emma and Shalimar never got bored nor lonely. Both of them expected their guys to be jealous or something when they when clubbing, they would stop them from dancing with anyone they didn't like. Both girls had gotten used to this, realising that it was actually quite sweet.

This time, however, they hadn't done any sort of thing. During one song, Emma had dragged Shalimar back to their seats, which were empty. Their drinks were still empty too.

'Where're the guys?' Emma asked. Shalimar shrugged and then looked over to the crowd to see if there were there. When she couldn't see then there, she checked the bar to see if they were there. What she saw shocked her.

'No way!' she barley said.

'What? What is it?' Emma followed Shalimar's gaze when she didn't reply. 'No way!' She now said.

At the bar sat the two guys, with two other girls with them. They were used to the guys pulling some girls; it wasn't hard for them. But they usually kept it on the dance floor. It was an unsaid rule.

Emma and Shalimar tore their eyes away and looked at each other.

'What do we do?' Emma asked, sounding a bit pissed. Probably because her boyfriend was being a hypocrite.

'What do you think?' Shalimar replied, smirking, letting her eyes change. Emma smirked back as the two of them got up, heading over to the bar, not taking their eyes off of them for a second on their way.

When they got there, the guys realised that they were standing there, and were sussed, but the two girls didn't.

'Hey.' Brennan said coolly and calmly as if what he was doing was perfectly normal. Shalimar widened her eyes at him for a second and then went to him. This was when the girl who had been flirting with him noticed her.

Emma had gone to Jesse, put her arms around his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his cheek from behind. The girl who was flirting with him, a brunette, just looked at her, smiled at Jesse and then walked off. Emma smiled and went to sit on his lap.

'So…what was all that about?' she asked, ordering herself another drink by the way.

'Nothing really.' Jesse shrugged. He pulled her closer to him. 'Honestly, I'm glad you came when you did. She was driving me crazy. She's no you.' he dramatically sighed. Emma laughed in forgiveness and kissed him.

'Well, of course not.' She murmured back before resuming kissing him.

The other blonde who had been flirting with Brennan was taken aback by Shalimar's entrance, and Brennan's shift of attention for her to her.

'Excuse me, but I was talking to him.' she snapped at Shalimar. Shalimar looked at her in disbelief. She was standing next to where Brennan was seated, and almost opposite to the blonde.

'So?' she replied, nonchalantly.

'So… I suggest you go find someone else to try and flirt with, cos right now, he's mine.' She drooled out. Shalimar looked in shock from the leggie blonde to Brennan, who she gave an 'ain't you gonna do anything?' look to. Brennan merely smiled and took a sip of his drink. In other words, no. He was enjoying it. So Shalimar decided to do the same.

'But I don't want another guy. I want this one.' Shalimar replied sweetly, stepping closer to him, wrapping her arms around one of his. Brennan smirked at her play, and then looked back to the other girl. She was fuming.

'Tough, bitch.' She scolded. Shalimar's look changes from playful to anger. She let go of Brennan's arm and stood up straight, as the other girl stood up from her seat too.

'What did you just call me?' Shalimar demanded in a low voice, which could only be heard by the three of them on the loudness of the music.

'You heard me.' She replied. The two blondes were more or less the same height. They both looked like the only fight they could mange would be a hair pulling, bitch fight. But Brennan knew better. As Shalimar stalked closer, she had flashed her eyes and let out a low growl.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa.' He finally said, deciding that it had been enough fun and play now. He had a lock onto Shalimar's arm, and now placed an arm around her waist, pulling her reluctantly backwards to him. 'Ok. As much fun as I was having, I'm gonna stop it before it goes too far.' He gave a small smile to the other blonde, who was staring at him with narrow eyes.

'What? You're choosing her over me?' I had you first"' she exclaimed, obviously not getting the message and the look of a pissed off girlfriend. Shalimar continued to stare at her while trying to calm herself down. She didn't know why she was so angry about the fact tat she had called her a bitch. Cos you're jealous? She pushed that thought back. She felt Brennan pull her closer to him.

'Actually, she had me before you ever did. So I think that you should just go before she does something that you will not like.' He smiled as he said the last bit. The blonde girl gave him a glare, and then an even dirtier one to Shalimar, who shot one back at her, and got up and left. Shalimar watched her go.

Brennan watched Shalimar a she watched the blonde, whose names he never got, got up and left. He then saw her sigh and turn around in his arms to face him. She placed her hands on his legs and she stood in between them. They were more or less at the same height now. She still had something etched across her face.

'Hey. 'Sup?' he asked as she diverted her e yes from him. She just shook her head Brennan rubbed her back and side to comfort her, but the look never left her face. She was restless, her hands were balling up, opening and clenching, on Brennan's thighs, gently hitting him when she quickened the pace.

'Why did she get you so wound up for? And her calling you a bitch?' Brennan now asked, trying another tactic. Shalimar merely shrugged, still not looking at him.

'Ok. Look, Shal. I'm no psionic, ok? So you're gonna havta speak to me the normal way, yeah?' he gently said, dipping his head a bit to meet her eyes when they looked down. She nodded.

'It's just… something that I'm feeling. It hasn't really left me all night. Now, it's come back stronger.' She admitted. She then met his eyes, smiling shyly and shook her head. 'I dunno what it is, but I know where it's coming from, and it's scaring me.' She whispered. She wrapped her arms around Brennan's neck and he tightened his hold on her.

Brennan had never heard of Shalimar being scared before, she had never admitted it at least. After a moment, he asked her something.

'Where's it coming from then?' he whispered. Shalimar pulled away from him and looked straight at him. She heard a slow song coming on. She stood up straight.

'C'mon. Dance with me Bren.' She said. Brennan was bewildered. Her mood had changed suddenly, something that only happens when she notices something that's not right, usually when they were on a case or something.

'Shal? What is it?' he was getting a bit impatient. Shalimar continued to tug him along to the dance floor, not stopping even when he spoke. Instead she squeezed his hand briefly.

It was a secret signal between the two of them. It meant that they needed to say something to the other, but then the right time, or it meant that they were ok. So Brennan followed Shalimar as she led him to a place on the dance floor.

When they got there, Brennan wrapped his arms around Shalimar's waist while she lifted one arm around his neck, but the other holding the upper part of his arm. She rested her head onto his shoulder, glad to have his arms around her for a moment. When Brennan kissed the top of her head, it felt as if it was just the two of them there, but then the harsh reality came biting back to her.

She sighed, and she knew that Brennan realised the change in her mood as he tightened his hold around her. Shalimar held onto the same position until that song finished. Almost immediately, another slow song had started. Shalimar backed away from Brennan a bit, putting both of her arms around his neck and leaning away from his body so she could talk to him. Instantly, she missed the feel of him.

'It's Emma. And now Jesse too.' She went straight into.

'What?' Brennan laughed. He shut up when he remember how Shalimar was feeling about this. She was serious about this. It is scaring her he told himself. 'What do you mean?'

'They've been acting weirdly. I asked Emma earlier and she said it was nothing. And now I felt like Jesse's doing the same. Now, I just saw them and they're just sitting there, talking. It's not like them, Bren. You know that.' She explained.

Brennan had to admit, it was quite strange. And Jesse was acting differently for a while. But he couldn't think of why they would be like that.

'Ok. But why?' he asked. Shalimar shrugged.

'That's the question. I tried to ask, but she won't tell me. I haven't tried Jesse yet. I will soon if I have to. But I don't understand what could be so important that they wouldn't tell us?' she frowned.

Brennan thought about it, pulling Shalimar back to him. He didn't like it any more that she did, but it drove him crazy that she was so worried about it. Going through possible, and stupid, reasons to why they were blanking them, Brennan couldn't help but smile at one really stupid, but logical one that he had thought of.

'Hey Shal? Maybe Emma's pregnant.' Brennan smiled at the thought. He was glad to hear Shalimar laugh at the idea of it.

'God, I hope not!' she giggled a bit more. 'Nah, I doubt it.' She shook her head.

'Why not?' Brennan asked. The song had changed once again to another slow dance song, but Brennan and Shalimar stayed as they were, swaying to the music around them. 'It makes sense why they didn't tell us.'

'Nah. Anyways, Jesse bought Emma an alcoholic drink. You can't drink while being pregnant, 'member? And I can't imagine Jesse, out of everyone, letting her drink one.' Shalimar reasoned. Brennan thought about it.

'Well, maybe he doesn't know that she's pregnant.' he counteracted.

'Then why is Jesse acting so weird for then?' she smirked at him, quirking an eyebrow as she leaned back to look at him. He furrowed his eyebrows.

'Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Well, maybe…' he trailed off, not being able to think of a reason. Shalimar laughed. She leaned in to kiss him. After breaking apart, she told him:

'Let's stop with the conspiracies. It's probably nothing. We'll just ask them later and make sure they actually tell us something more that 'nothing' and 'I'm fine'.' Shalimar finally concluded.

'Now look who's talking. Ten minutes ago, I thought you were gonna drive yourself crazy over the fact that they're acting like that.' Brennan smirked. Shalimar smacked his chest playfully.

'Well, I guess sharing it helped a bit.' She said, smiling.

'Yeah. And the fact that it was me kind of helped, like, a lot.' Brennan boasted.

'Huh! Honey, you wish.' Shalimar replied, laughing when Brennan put on a hurt face.

'Ow! That hurt you know.'

'Really?' she asked in an innocent voice. 'Well, maybe I can make it better.' She pulled him to kiss him, hard and passionately.

After breaking apart, the two of them continued to dance, not worrying about Jesse or Emma at that moment.

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**SO?**

**Like i said ... PLEASE R&R!**

**I'm thinking of updating weekly... but i might do it more frequently if you tell me so!**

**xXx Tiana**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heya guys!**

**Soz for the late update... but like i said - the more reviews, the quiker updates!**

**So please R&R!**

**xXx Tiana**

**

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****Next Day**

The four of them had arrived home around 2am. In their fatigue, they all managed to a room and a bed to sleep in.

At noon the next day, all four of then were having brunch in the kitchen. Talking was kept to a minimum as a result of their tiredness and slight hangovers. Although, Jesse and Emma had another reason to be so quiet, and were glad for the excuse of having a hangover.

Shalimar didn't miss the glances that Jesse and Emma were throwing to each other. Probably have plans to get to regarding their secret she thought.

As she noticed Jesse getting to the end of the newspaper, and Emma to the end of her magazine, Shalimar got up and the three empty coffee cups into the sink. Washing her hands. She dried them and walked over to one side of the kitchen where Brennan stood, watching a muted TV on the news channel sub-consciously.

Shalimar threaded an arm around his waist as one of his came around her shoulders. She looked at him. He knew what she meant and what she was going to do. Kissing her forehead, he gave her his support. They had decided last night that first thing, well kind of the first thing, in the morning, they would ask them about what they were hiding from them.

'Um… guys, can we talk to you?' Shalimar asked, walking away from Brennan and back to her seat at the table. Jesse looked at Emma, who did the same, and then back to Shalimar.

'Yeah, sure. 'Sup?' he asked back.

'Actually, that's what we wanted to ask you.' Brennan put in joining the three of them at the table. He stood behind Shalimar's chair to give her support.

'What d'you mean?' Jesse furrowed his eyebrows; he didn't like this.

'Since yesterday, you've both been acting strange - ' Shalimar began.

'Shal…' Emma interrupted gently.

'No, let me finish.' Shalimar shook her head. 'I know there's something going on, something that you're telling me, us. We're a family; we don't keep secrets from each other. Not anything this big.'

'How do you know it's big?' Emma asked curiously. Shalimar shrugged.

'I'm guessing so, otherwise you wouldn't be acting so weird.' She stated. Jesse and Emma looked at each other, not sure what to do. They had been trying to act normal, but around a feral, that wasn't really possible. When no-one spoke, Brennan decided to prompt them.

'Look guys. If you tell us, we can help you. If not, we'll find out our own way. In the mean time, we'll just come up other explanations. I mean,' Brennan looked as Emma, 'you being pregnant would explain the weirdness, wouldn't it?' he said almost innocently.

Emma blinked, shocked, at what he had just said.

'I'm NOT pregnant!' she said, quickly and certainly.

'Well, unless you tell us what the truth is, what are we supposed to think?' Shalimar backed her boyfriend up. Jesse sighed, giving in.

'Look, I didn't want to keep it a secret from you, but until I knew whether it was true or not, I didn't want you to know, Shal.'

Shalimar stared at him, urging him to go on. Jesse looked from her to Brennan and finally to Emma, who nodded.

'Yesterday, I was checking our computers and I came across something that told me who Adam was meeting wit. Look, Shal, before you do anything, just remember that Adam trusts her, otherwise he wouldn't have been seeing her, ok?' Jesse made sure. Shalimar just looked at him and slowly nodded. He looked at Brennan, realising that what he was going to hear wasn't going to make any sense to him. Jesse sighed once again, preparing himself to say it to her.

'It was Tori Reed.' He barely managed to say. For a moment, there was just silence and Jesse wondered if Shalimar had heard him. However, she was trying to process the info, hoping that she had got it wrong. He didn't say Tori Reed… did he? She thought, trying to sort out the memories and thoughts that had came rushing back to her.

'No. Adam wouldn't do that.' She managed to choke out a moment later. Jesse just looked down.' No.' Shalimar snapped, standing up suddenly. Brennan had to jump back to avoid that chair form hitting him. She started to stride out of the kitchen.

'Shalimar…' Emma tried to stop her again. This time she did stop, but she turned around sharply, facing the two of them with angry eyes.

'Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you tell me earlier?' she almost cried.

'Cos we didn't know until he had gone. Shal, he trusts her. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt, don't you?' Jesse tried to reason. Shalimar just looked at him in dis belief. She shook her head again before turning around and continuing to stride out of the kitchen and no doubt to see Adam.

Brennan watched her go and then looked at Jesse, who was still looking down.

'Who is she?' he asked. Jesse looked at him.

'Someone who should stay out of Shalimar's way.' He replied. Brennan realised what he meant, but he didn't get the answer that he had wanted. Instead of pushing it, he went after Shalimar before she did anything rash.

Catching up with her, Brennan was a couple of metres behind her when he mad his presence know, although no doubt she already knew he was there.

'Shal, maybe you should calm down a bit before seeing Adam.' It wasn't really a question because he knew she wouldn't.

'Don't try and stop me, Bren. If you knew…' she trailed off, reaching the lab's corridor. Brennan caught up with her before she reached the door. Grabbing her wrist, he stopped her and turned her around.

'Then let me knew. Tell me what's going on here, Shalimar.' He pleaded with her. Shalimar stared into his eyes. If it was anyone else, she would have punched them right there and then for stopping her, but with Brennan, she wouldn't dream of it.

'You'll find out soon enough.' she said, her voice cold. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and entered the lab. She heard Brennan whispered her name, warningly, but it didn't stop her. She had to know.

Adam was going through some files that he had received from Tori at that moment. Quickly minimizing it all, he spun to see an angry feral, who he regarded no less that a daughter, came into his lab.

'Were you going to tell us, Adam?' she went straight into. Behind her came in Brennan, followed by Jesse and Emma. Adam hadn't expected her anger to be directed at him.

'Shalimar, what are you talking about?' Adam got up from his seat and walked over to her, but she took a step back as he got closer. This made his stop, getting more worried.

'About her, Adam. About Tori!' she more or less yelled. She stood with her arms crossed, on her own in the middle of the lab. Behind her and to her right were the other three, while opposite, on his own, stood Adam.

'How did you find out?' Adam almost whispered. After the momentary shock, her knew there would be no point in denying it, especially to Shalimar.

'So it is true then.' She stated, slight disappointment in her voice.

'Shal, I was going you tell you, but when the time was right.'

'When the time was right? When the hell would that be? When the GSAs are swarming into here? Or maybe when you're dead?' Shalimar was getting angrier and angrier now, mainly because of the fact that Adam was trusting Tori, even after what she had done.

'Shalimar, it's not like that! Let me explain, please!' he pleaded.

Shalimar shook her head no, backing away from Adam again. This time she headed out of the door.

'No! I can't…I don't…' she took a breath. 'Just let me think, alright?' she said before exiting the lab.

The four who remained in the lab couldn't do anything but watch her go. Emma could feel her anger and confusion, something that she knew that Shalimar didn't like, and it was giving her a headache. Jesse didn't know what to do. Although he wanted to know what Adam was talking about, he didn't know if he really did want to know.

Brennan knew better than to go after Shalimar when she was this pissed off. And being confused along with it didn't help either, especially when he didn't know what the hell was going on himself. He had figured out previously that everyone else, including Emma, knew who this Tori lady was.

Emma looked at Brennan as she started to sense his confusion and slight frustration too. She knew exactly what he was thinking, not that she could blame him. When she caught his eye, she motioned with a nod to head out of the lab. Brennan nodded and followed her out.

Jesse and Adam remained in the lab. When Jesse turned to leave, Adam spoke.

'How did you find out?'

'Does it matter?' Jesse asked back. His voice wasn't cold, even though he thought it would be. He saw Adam look down. 'I trust you Adam. We all do. So if you've been in contact with Tori for 12 months now,' Adam's head snapped up at this new piece of information, 'then you'll have a lot of explaining to do. To all of us.' Jesse stood his ground as Adam nodded acceptingly. Then he too headed out of the lab.

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**BTW - the next chapter is mostly B/S fluff... so if you wanna read it soon... just review.**

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**xXx Tiana**


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